Reports began circulating Wednesday about a mysterious hardware issue that could cause sensitive data, including user passwords, to become accessible to hackers.

To make matters worse, consumers were warned that a software update to fix the widespread problem could potentially slow down their computers, although it remains unclear to what extent that is true.

While the problem was initially identified in computers based on Intel processors, Google has since pointed out the same security issue can be found in other devices.

The tech giant says computers powered with hardware by AMD, Intel’s biggest competitor, are also affected.

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Google also warned that smartphones, tablets and other devices that use ARM processors will need a software update to be protected.

Last year, a team of Google researchers stumbled upon the hardware issue, which actually involves three separate vulnerabilities, and the computer industry had been collaborating in secret on a fix.

Google, Intel and other companies were planning to release details about the security issues next week, once software updates were ready to be deployed, but were forced to go public early when news of the problems leaked.

In a statement released Wednesday, Intel attempted to downplay worries about the hardware issue, saying it believes hackers “do not have the potential to corrupt, modify or delete data.” The company also said a performance hit from a future software update “should not be significant and will be mitigated over time.”

AMD said it believes the issues pose zero or “near-zero risk” to consumers while “negligible performance impact” is expected from a software fix.

Users of the Linux operating system can already download an update while Microsoft is gradually pushing out fixes for Windows users. Apple has yet to comment on plans to update its operating systems.

Google says Android devices with the latest security update installed are already protected, while users of the Chrome web browser and Chromebook computers may need to download an update.

This week's "On the Clock" guest @robhastingsCPP of @Manulife shares that his day consists of a "healthy" dose of coffee, strategic initiatives, metrics and analysis, and “telling the corporate story in numbers.”